Education

Prof. Francisco E. Baralle gained his BSc and PhD in Chemistry at the University of Buenos Aires and his degree in Medicine and Surgery at the University of Naples.

Career History

After completing his Ph.D. studies at the Department of Organic Chemistry, he transferred to the Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquimicas Fundacion Campomar directed by Prof. Luis F. Leloir. In 1974, he moved to the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge, UK, where he worked in the Division directed by Dr. Frederick Sanger. From 1980 to 1990, he was University Lecturer of Pathology at Oxford and Fellow of Magdalen College. In 1980, he was elected member of the European Molecular Biology Organisation (EMBO). In 1993, he was awarded the Platinum Konex Prize for Science and Technology (Argentina) as the best scientist of the decade in Genetic and Cytology and in 2001 he was elected Member of the Argentine Academy of Sciences. In September 1990, he was appointed Director of the Trieste Component of ICGEB and in 2004 became the Director-General of the same institute.

Scientific Activity

In 1977, Prof. Baralle published the sequence of the messenger RNA coding for beta-globin, the first complete primary structure of an eukaryotic mRNA. In 1979, his group isolated the gene for epsilon-globin, a component of the human embryonic haemoglobin. He has also contributed to the study of the genetic factors involved in the susceptibility to hypertension, atherosclerosis and coronary heart disease.

He was one of the first to describe the pre-mRNA alternative splicing process in the 1980s and since then he has made critical contributions to understanding the molecular mechanisms involved in this important cellular process in health and disease. Prof. Baralle heads the mis splicing and disease project within the European RNA alternative splicing network of excellence (EURASNET) that involves close European collaborations in basic and clinical research.

Furthermore, in addition to the basic research fields mentioned above, applied biotechnology projects are being carried out at the ICGEB laboratory. In particular, strains and process protocols have been developed for the production of recombinant biopharmaceuticals.